Hunt, Play, Love
by penny4him
Summary: Drizzt family fic.  Alternate reality.  5yr old Violet brings home a lost kitten, a fire-making contest ends badly, and Drizzt wonders if he will ever get some time alone with his wife.
1. The Kitten

_Disclaimer: The recognizable characters appearing in this story are copyright by Wizards of the Cost, Inc. This story is written for entertainment purposes only; no challenge to the copyright holders is intended, neither should any be inferred._

_Hunt, Play, Love: Drizzt's 5yr old daughter Violet brings a baby kitten home, a fire-making contest ends badly, and Drizzt wonders if he'll ever get to spend some time alone with his wife._

_A/N : Yes, the title may be a knock-off of a bestseller that I have never read and know nothing about. Without further ado..._

**Hunt, Play, Love**

Chapter 1: The Kitten

Five-year-old Violet Do'Urden was constantly bringing home little animals from the woods and trying to make pets of them, so when Cattie-brie caught sight of her daughter coming up the trail with a squirming bundle wrapped in her cloak, she sighed. "_Here we go again,_" she thought to herself.

Violet burst into the house, clutching the precious bundle and panting for breath.

"Sweetie," Cattie-brie said, trying to be proactive, "Baby animals need to be with their mothers, remember? Or else they might die. They have a much better chance with their mum – we talked about this before."

Violet nodded, still catching her breath. "But mum," she said, opening the bundle, "it's a kitten, look!"

Cattie-brie came closer and peered at the squirming mass of gray fur. The tiny kitten's eyes were open, and they looked like molten gold. The poor kitty meowed piteously and feebly sniffed Violet's palm, searching for milk. "Oh honey," Cattie-brie said to Violet. She stroked the kitten gently with one finger. "This kitty needs to be with her mama – she's too little. She needs milk."

"But there _was_ no mama cat! There were no other cats at all. Zak and I were playing outside and we heard this really quiet, squeaky meowing, so we started searching for it, and we found it all by itself in the bushes." As if to illustrate the point, the kitten in question gave just such a tiny, high-pitched 'meow!' "It's kind of windy out, so I wrapped the kitty in my cloak and brought it here, and Zak's still looking for the mama cat."

Just then the door burst open again and Zaknafein stepped into the kitchen, looking mud-spattered and wind-blown. "There's no mama cat anywhere," he stated, coming up to pet the baby kitty. "I looked everywhere, and called and called, but no other cats."

The poor kitten was meowing more and more frantically, still nuzzling Violet's fingers. Cattie-brie couldn't help feeling sorry for it. "Alright," she said resignedly, "let's give this girl some milk."

"Yes!" Violet exclaimed. "Thank you mama!"

* * *

When Drizzt returned home later that evening, he found seven-year-old Zaknafein industriously hammering together a little box for the kitten's bed, and Violet sitting with the feline in question on her lap, a bowl of goat's milk beside her and a milky rag in hand that the kitten was sucking on contentedly. "Who's this?" he said curiously, kneeling down to see the little bundle of fur.

"We haven't decided on a name yet," Violet said, looking up at him with a sweet smile. "I like 'Princess', but Zak wants her to be named 'Smokey'."

Zak came in with the newly-finished cat bed and placed it close to the hearth, while Cattie-brie found some soft rags to line it with. "Smokey's the perfect name because she's all gray!" he said enthusiastically. "Mum says she likes both names," Zak went on. "Which one do _you_ think is better, _Kel'nar_?"

Both children were looking at him, waiting expectantly, and Cattie-brie and Drizzt exchanged an amused look over top of their heads. Drizzt smiled and extended an index finger to the kitten, who immediately began sucking on it. "What do you think, little girl?" he asked the cat, "Princess or Smokey?"

"Princess!" said Violet. "Princess, Princess, Princess!"

The kitten blithely went on nibbling Drizzt's finger.

"Smokey," Zaknafein suggested to the cat. "Hello, Smokey." Unexpectedly the kitten looked up at him and meowed. "Do you like that – Smokey?" The kitten meowed again and Zak grinned.

"Looks like 'Smokey' it is," Drizzt said, with a sidelong glance at Violet.

The five-year-old shrugged. "Smokey's okay, I guess. Since _she_ likes it."

Drizzt smiled. "Then it's agreed."

* * *

Drizzt and Zak had gone out to look for the mother cat again that evening, but to no avail.

"It's the strangest thing," Drizzt said to Cattie-brie, who was feeding the kitten milk with a rag for the fourth time since the kids had been put to bed. "I don't know how such a little kitten got out here. I can only think that maybe coyotes or wolves got the mother and the rest of the litter, but somehow missed this little one."

Cattie-brie stifled a yawn and nodded. "She wants milk _all_ the time," she said. "Like every hour. She's not gonna make it through the night unless we take turns feeding her."

Drizzt nodded solemnly. He took the kitten and the milk from her. "Let me do that, and you go sleep for awhile."

"Thanks," Cattie-brie murmured, yawning again. It was already midnight. She leaned over to kiss Drizzt, and then gladly headed to bed.

Sometime in the middle of the night Cattie-brie felt Drizzt shaking her awake as he crawled into bed beside her. "Kitten," he said.

"Yes, what?"

"_The_ kitten, love. Smokey."

"Mmph," Cattie-brie groaned, but got out of bed anyway and stumbled towards the door to take her turn giving the kitten milk. Drizzt was deep in reverie before she'd even left their room.

When dawn was touching the horizon Cattie-brie woke Drizzt, who normally got up then anyway, and went back to sleep. She hoped she had an hour or two before the kids got up. As it turned out, and hour and a half later it was still hard to drag herself out of bed. "_Don't know how I did this when the kids were babies,_" she thought to herself. Happily, Drizzt had a pot of strong Moonshae coffee waiting when she found the energy to drag herself into the kitchen.

At least during the day Zaknafein and Violet eagerly took turns giving the little kitten milk. They were trying to teach it to drink from a bowl, but so far it hadn't caught on.

Drizzt and Cattie-brie were both pretty tired by evening, their lack of sleep having caught up with them. Cattie-brie wasn't sure about Drizzt, but she herself was dreading another interrupted night like the last one.

At bedtime when the kids begged to stay up late to take care of the kitten for awhile, Drizzt took one look at the dark circles under Cattie-brie's eyes and said yes. He wasn't feeling much more energetic himself. They gratefully went to bed, leaving the kids with Smokey.

Drizzt had intended to wake up sometime in the middle of the night and take over, but when he next awoke, the sky was already starting to get lighter. He hurried into the kitchen, expecting to find the kids asleep in front of the fireplace, and the kitten dead, but surprisingly Zaknafein and Violet were both awake, and the kitten, of all things, was lapping goat's milk straight from the bowl.

"She just started doing it a minute ago, _Kel'nar_!" Violet exclaimed, smiling happily at the clever kitten.

Drizzt petted the kitten with one finger and smiled.

"We'd been trying to teach her _for-ev-er_," Zak said, yawning hugely, "and now she's finally doing it!"

"That's great," Drizzt said. "Now we won't have to stay up with her all night anymore. Speaking of which, to bed, with both of you."

"But it's almost sunrise already," Violet started.

"Bed. Now."

They went.

* * *

Despite staying up nearly all night with the kitten, Zak and Violet still only slept until mid-morning. They seemed as energetic as ever during the day, but were twice as cranky as usual. Finally after lunch Cattie-brie made them both go take a nap – something she hadn't done for ages.

"I'm not tired!" Zaknafein complained.

"Me either." This from Violet.

"You don't have to _sleep_," Cattie-brie conceded. "I just want you to lie down in your beds and rest for a little while." She knew they'd probably both be asleep in short order anyway.

Not five minutes after she'd sent them to bed, both children were sound asleep. Time for some relaxation. Cattie-brie grabbed _Taul'maril_, her enchanted bow, and headed outside for some target practice.

'_Practice_' wasn't really the word for it, she thought, enjoying the cool breeze on her face as she walked into the clearing. More like '_play_'. She could hit the tiny acorns on the edge of the forest from here. She loosed three arrows in quick succession, doing just that.

Drizzt entered the clearing from the trail that led off to the stream, admiring his wife's form as she shot. _And_ as she nocked another arrow, _and_ as she just stood there, running a hand through her wild auburn hair... "I could watch you forever," he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her slender waist.

Cattie-brie fired off the last arrow and giggled as he kissed her on the back of the neck. "You made me miss!" she exclaimed, the arrow flying wide of her intended target.

"Sorry," he breathed, still kissing her neck lightly.

She laughed again at the tickley feeling. "You don't sound very sorry." Smiling, she turned to face him and laid her bow down in the dry grass beside them, hugging him back. "Mmm, you smell good!"

"I should, I just came back from the stream." He glanced towards the house suddenly. "Are the kids asleep?"

"Yep." Cattie-brie slid her hands down his arms, enjoying the feel of his corded muscles. "We've got at least an hour." She smiled suggestively and leaned in to kiss him again.

Drizzt grinned. "I know a place where the grass is really soft..."

"Mmm."

"We could lay on top of my fur-lined cloak...just let me fetch it." He let go of her and started towards the house.

"I'll be waiting," she called after him musically. After a moment Cattie-brie picked up her bow and headed for the house as well. She should at least put it away, she supposed.

"Me girl!"

Startled by the shout from across the clearing, Cattie-brie turned. "Bruenor!"

The crusty old dwarf grinned as she hastened over, giving him a delighted hug.

He coughed once, embarrassed. "Where's that elf of yours?" he asked gruffly. "Come to fetch him on a hunt."

Hearing the voices outside, Drizzt hurried out, delighted to see his friend, but more that a little disappointed at the interruption of his plans for Cattie-brie.

* * *

Cattie-brie measured some flour out of the barrel, thinking about how nice some fresh bread would taste with supper. Bruenor had declined to come in, although he was greatly disappointed to hear that his grandkids were sleeping. He'd relayed how just that morning he'd found a dead elk on his very doorstep, surrounded by enormous bear tracks. In the past weeks, bear-sign and glimpses of the bear itself had been seen near the dwarven settlement, and the daunting creature seemed to be growing bolder and venturing closer each day. This last occurrence had made up Bruneor's mind – they needed to hunt it _now_, before the next victim was not just an elk, but a dwarf. Drizzt had belted on his scimitars and the unlikely pair had hurried off, excitement for the hunt fairly oozing from them.

So Cattie-brie had enjoyed nearly an hour of peace and quiet already, and was planning out a nice supper in her mind as she got out the rest of the bread ingredients. The silence was soon broken, however, by both Zaknafein and Violet charging down the stairs like a herd of wild _rothe_.

"Kitty kitty kitty!" Violet chanted as they came flying down.

Zak leapt the last three steps and landed with a bang that shook the floorboards. "How's Smokey?" he asked, hurrying over to the little cat-box by the hearth.

"She _was_ sleeping," Cattie-brie answered, glancing over at the little box. "And amazingly, she still is." The little kitten was blissfully unaware of the racket.

"She's so-oo cute!" Violet said, careening to a stop just inches from the fireplace.

"Yup, she's the cutest!" Zak agreed.

Cattie-brie picked up the cask of flour and turned to put it away, nearly tripping over Violet, who had come up right behind her to see what she was doing. A cloud of flour poofed into the air.

Zaknafein laughed and danced around in the slowly-falling dust. "It's snowing in here!"

"Mum, can I have a drink?" Violet dragged a chair over to the water pail and picked up the dipper herself, slopping quite a bit on the floor.

"Yes – Vi! Here, let me help you with that."

"Where's dad?" Zaknafein asked, now tracing patterns with his finger on the flour-covered floorboards.

"Hunting a bear with grandpa Bruenor," Cattie-brie replied. "It was coming pretty close to the mines and getting dangerous."

"Ooh!" Violet said, a shiver running down her spine. "A big bad bear!"

Zaknafein laughed and raise both arms above his head, crooking his fingers into claws. "_I'm_ a big bad bear!" he shouted, advancing on his sister. "I'm gonna get you...ROAR!"

Violet shrieked and scrambled to get away from her brother, a silly smile plastered on her face. She bumped into Cattie-brie in her hurry, causing her to spill some of the oil she'd just been measuring out.

"Okay that's it – outside wi' the both of ye, please," Cattie-brie said. "Outside where ye can't make a mess!"

Agreeably the kids ran out, Zaknafein still roaring and growling in his impersonation of a bear.

Cattie-brie smiled and got out the broom to sweep up the flour. At least they seemed back to their normal selves now that they'd slept a bit more.

* * *

_Kel'nar_ = dad

A/N: In progress. All reviews appreciated.


	2. The Contest

Chapter 2: The Contest

An hour later Cattie-brie was up to her elbows in dough again, punching it down for the third time. The pot of potatoes and carrots still wasn't boiling, and judging by the increased sounds of bickering filtering through the kitchen window, the kids were getting hungry. That, and she hadn't even started on the meat yet.

Drizzt had just returned from his successful hunt with Bruenor, and was animatedly recounting to her how they had at last succeeded in tracking and killing an enormous brown bear they were sure was the same one that had been terrorizing the dwarven settlement.

Cattie-brie blew a strand of loose hair out of her eyes and tried to listen attentively as she began forming the dough into loaves. She wasn't sure just _what_ had possessed her to make bread today _too_, but now she had to finish it.

"Could not!"

"Could too!"

"Could NOT!"

"Could TOO!" came floating in from the open window.

"And the claws were as long as my hand!" Drizzt exclaimed, holding up the appendage in question. "I kid you not!"

"Uh-huh. Wow," Cattie-brie said perfunctorily. "I mean, really, that's one huge bear!" At least her second attempt sounded somewhat more interested, she thought. "Um, Drizzt, love, can I ask you a huge favor?"

He smiled. "You can ask."

"It would be a _big_ help if you could get the steaks ready and cook them on the fire outside."

"Alright...um..._what_ fire outside?"

"The one you're going to build."

"Ah...right."

Cattie-brie wiped her hands off on a towel and impulsively grabbed Drizzt in a hug. "Thanks, sweetie!" She kissed him on the cheek and started to turn back to her bread, but Drizzt stopped her with a long, lingering kiss.

"It's no problem," he said softly into her hair. His hands slid down her back and came to rest lightly on the curve of her buttocks. "You know, maybe we could-"

"_Shut your mouth_!"

"No, YOU shut your mouth! You're a stupid-head anyway!"

With a sigh, Drizzt and Cattie-brie looked out the window to where the kids were arguing in the clearing. "To be continued," Drizzt promised, letting go of Cattie-brie after a final squeeze.

"I'll look forward to it," she murmured, and Drizzt smiled as he headed outside.

* * *

"You couldn't even beat me in a race," five-year-old Violet said.

"Well you wouldn't last ten seconds against me in an arm-wrestle," seven-and-a-half-year-old Zaknafein answered haughtily.

Drizzt came around the side of the house and they both stopped talking abruptly.

"_Kel'nar_!" Zaknafein and Violet both rushed at him and hugged him at once.

"Oof!" The ranger laughed and returned their hugs.

"Did you get the bear, did you did you did you?" Violet jumped up and down excitedly.

Drizzt's smile widened. "We got it."

"How big was it, _Kel'nar_?" Zaknafein asked.

"Well, the claws were as long as my hand," Drizzt said, holding his hand out.

"Ooh!" Violet shrieked, her eyes going wide.

Zak grinned. "Wow! You're the best ranger ever!"

Drizzt laughed. "Couldn't have done it without Grandpa Bruenor." He let his voice turn a bit more serious and changed the subject. "Are you two getting along?"

"Yeah." From Zak. Violet said nothing.

Drizzt raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well...kind of."

"See that you do."

Both kids gave a cursory nod.

"We need to make a fire out here for supper," Drizzt said. "How 'bout we have a contest to see who can get one going the fastest, and that will give me time to get the steaks ready for mum."

"Alright!"

"Yeah!"

"Okay - ready, set, go!" Zak and Violet both rushed towards the woodpile at the back of the house as fast as they could and began gathering sticks and kindling. Drizzt grinned. Fire taken care of. He headed back into the house to prepare the meat.

* * *

"These knives are all horribly dull," Drizzt stated, setting aside a third kitchen knife he had just tried. He hadn't even trimmed the fat off of one steak yet.

"I know," Cattie-brie replied, stirring the vegetables with one hand and turning the pan of baking bread with the other. "I haven't had time to sharpen them lately."

"Seeing as the fire's taken care of, I probably have time to do it now," Drizzt said, going over to the pack he had left by the door and pulling out his whetstone.

"The fire's already taken care of? How did you manage that so fast?"

Drizzt grinned and told Cattie-brie about his ingenious plan.

She looked up from adding onions to the pot of vegetables, impressed. "Sounds like a brilliant idea! Good thinking."

* * *

Violet was absolutely thrilled when she finally managed to coax her pile of kindling into flame. She quickly added some small twigs and then looked across to where Zaknafein was still laying the wood for his fire. No flames yet. She grinned, and added some bigger sticks. The fire was well and truly going. "Hey Za-ak," she called, stretching his name out.

The seven-year-old glanced up from across the clearing and noted the flames incredulously.

"I win, I win, I win!" Violet danced in circles around her fire. "I beat you, I beat you, I beat you!"

Contest over. Dejectedly, Zak dropped the last few sticks he'd been about to add to his perfect teepee structure and started walking toward the house, head down.

Violet couldn't resist one last taunt. "Hey Zak! Who's the 'stupid-head' _now_?"

That was too much. It was bad enough being beaten by his five-year-old sister, but that did it. Enraged, Zaknafein turned suddenly, charged his sister's fire and kicked it out violently, smoldering sticks flying haphazardly through the air, some of them coming dangerously close to his shocked sibling.

"Zaknafein!" Drizzt had just rounded the corner of the house to see if a fire was ready, and saw what was going on across the clearing.

"Zak, you jerk! I hate you!" Violet shrieked. Seeing only one solution, she ran across the clearing to where Zak's perfectly built teepee stood, just waiting to be lit.

Seeing where she was going, her older brother was soon hot on her heels. "Get away from my fire!"

"Violet! Don't do it!" Drizzt warned, starting towards them briskly. Originally he'd thought it would be nice to have a fire ready-laid for the next day, but if he was going to have to rebuild this one from scratch, they wouldn't be eating for awhile.

Ignoring both her father and brother, Violet kicked apart the little teepee with all her might, scattering sticks and kindling as far as possible. In an instant Zak tackled her and they were rolling on the ground, punching, kicking, biting and scratching.

"_Enough_!" Zak and Vi had very rarely heard their father yell, and it was a fearsome thing. Nevertheless, they both kept fighting hard. Violet, who had just managed to roll on top, continued punching and kicking until she felt herself hauled bodily off of Zak, who immediately sprang to his feet, glaring and panting. Both siblings attempted one last punch or kick, and Drizzt interspersed himself bodily between them. "I said _enough_!"

Drizzt looked over the still-glaring siblings for a moment. Zak's lip was split and one eye was puffy. Violet's knuckles were bleeding, as was her nose, a tiny bit. Drizzt closed his eyes for a moment and controlled his voice. "Zaknafein. Go and wait for me on the bench by the house. Violet..." he turned to the girl who's wrist he still held. "Come with me."

* * *

A/N: In progress. Leave a review, s'il vous plait!


	3. The Consequences

A/N: Ah yes, the controversial chapter. I'm sure you can guess what's likely to happen, so that being said, feel free to skip this chapter if such a thing offends...or read on and leave me a diatribe of a review! :P

Chapter 3: The Consequences

Zak trudged towards the bench by the house and Drizzt led Violet off towards the forest in the opposite direction. She had to take two steps to keep up with every one of his. Noticing this belatedly, the ranger slowed his stride a bit. He walked until he felt calm again, which ended up being quite a ways. Then he stopped, released Violet's hand, and pulled a slender green branch off of a small tree.

"_Kel'nar_," Violet protested, "Zaknafein kicked _my_ fire out!"

"I know. I saw the whole thing."

"But–!" she looked at the switch in his hand. "_He_ kicked _my_ fire out."

"And you disobeyed me." Drizzt's voice was even. "You still kicked his fire over, even though I told you not to–"

"Because he did it to me first!"

"_And_," Drizzt continued, "you both kept fighting after I said 'enough'."

"But _he_ did it first, and I _had_ to keep fighting because _he_ kept fighting!"

Drizzt shook his head. "You could have left it to me to make things right after he kicked your fire out. I was right there. And when I said 'enough', you could have gotten up and backed off."

Violet looked down and scuffed the dirt and dead pine needles with her toe unhappily. She said nothing.

"When I tell you something," Drizzt said quietly, "I mean to be obeyed." He paused. "Since you disobeyed me twice..." He took a step forward, held Violet with one arm, and delivered two hard, stinging smacks to her backside with the switch. Then he cast it aside and held her while she cried a little.

"_Kel'nar_, Z-Zak was s-so mean – I won, and he kicked my fire out, and I almost never beat him at anything! I was so mad..."

"I know, Vi, and Zak's in trouble too, but you still need to obey me, you understand?"

Violet rubbed her eyes and looked down. "Yes."

Drizzt crouched down to eye-level and launched into his 'I-punished-you-because-I-love-you' speech, and Violet only half-listened until he deviated from the usual talk.

"You and Zak are usually such good friends. Mum and I think it's great when you two play together, or when you help each other, or stick up for each other around other kids...remember when we were in town last week, and Geoff, the miller's son, called you a name?"

"Yeah..." Violet said. "Zak punched him in the nose! I thought he'd get in trouble, but you just told the miller we needed to be going, and on the way home I heard you tell Zak, 'Thanks for being a good big brother to Violet'." She smiled in spite of herself.

Drizzt nodded. "I hope you can forgive Zak for kicking out your fire."

Violet shrugged. "If he's sorry."

"You know, Violet, sometimes we need to forgive people even when they're not sorry...otherwise all the anger inside of us just sort of eats us up from the inside out."

Violet was listening to his words, but Drizzt wasn't sure she was old enough to understand yet. He stood up and offered her his hand, and together they walked back towards the house.

Drizzt frowned slightly as they entered the clearing. The bench against the house was empty, and Zaknafein should have been sitting on it. His son was nowhere in sight. As they approached the house, his ranger's eye noticed trampled grass and a broken branch at the opposite side of the clearing – tell-tale signs of Zak's apparent flight into the foliage. He sighed inwardly.

Drizzt brought Violet inside so that Cattie-brie could wash the now-dried blood from her nose and knuckles. He offered a quiet explanation as his wife pulled the now-cooked pot of vegetables off of the trivet in the hearth. "...So now I need to go and deal with Zaknafein...as soon as I can find him," he finished.

"Alright, well dinna trouble yerself about the meat, I'll just cook it on the fire here, seein' as the potatoes and carrots are done now." Only her dwarven accent coming through showed her stress over the children's fight.

Drizzt nodded and headed back outside.

Cattie-brie turned to Violet, who was sitting at the table consoling herself by eating honey straight from the pot. "Come, sweetie," she said, "let's get you washed up."

* * *

Drizzt had been a ranger for decades already, and a tracker for even longer. It was no trouble for him to find his seven-year-old son, although he was hiding in some bushes, and had even scraped dead leaves over himself to aid in his disguise. A few wisps of auburn hair were poking out of the boy-shaped mound of leaves under the bush, and Drizzt found himself both amused and somewhat impressed by his son's clever, if less-than-perfectly-executed attempt at hiding. He came closer, and there was a sudden explosion of leaves as Zaknafein leapt up.

"Woah, woah, Zak." Drizzt held a hand up, palm out. "Run from me again, and you _will_ regret it."

Zak glanced deeper into the forest, then back at his father, debating. They were still about ten paces apart.

Drizzt sighed. Did he need to spell it out to him? Apparently. "You _know_ I'll catch you sooner or later, and then you'll be in more trouble that you already are. I don't think you want that Zaknafein...do you?"

"No." His tone was sullen.

"Good decision." "_Best get this over with,_" Drizzt thought. He looked around for a suitably thin green branch, and, locating an acceptable one, pulled it from the tree while Zak began his protestations.

"Violet called me a 'stupid-head', and she kept gloating about how she won the stupid contest!"

"It wasn't nice," Drizzt said, "although I seem to recall hearing you call her the same thing earlier, and–"

"But she–"

"_And_," Drizzt went on, ignoring the interruption, "it certainly didn't occasion you kicking her fire out...not to mention how dangerous that was, in addition to being inexcusable."

"My fire was _so_ close to being ready, and _she_ kicked it over _too_! And did you see what she did to my face?"

"Violet's been dealt with, Zaknafein." Drizzt held the switch but didn't advance. Somehow this wasn't going as well as he'd hoped. He took a breath, waiting until he was calm again. "I know you were angry," he continued, "but you could have let me deal with things instead of tacking Vi and starting a fistfight, seeing as I was right there."

Zak looked at the ground and said nothing.

Drizzt touched his unicorn pendant and silently asked Mielikki to help him deal with this right. The ranger wasn't sure if his goddess cared about such things, but he figured it couldn't hurt to ask. "Zak." He waited until his son finally looked at him. "I said 'enough', and you kept right on fighting."

"Violet did too!"

"You both did, but you could have gotten up and backed off."

"Or Violet could've–"

"This is about _you_ now, Zak. _You_ could've backed off, and _you_ didn't."

Again Zak said nothing, contenting himself with crossing his arms and kicking at the undergrowth with the side of his foot.

Drizzt sighed inwardly. Usually he seemed to have an easier time with Zak than with Vi in situations like this, but today was the opposite. He ran a hand through his stark white hair. "I asked you to wait for me on the bench and you didn't," he continued quietly. "I'd like to know what you were thinking – how long were you planning on hiding out here? You had to know you couldn't stay out here forever. You had to know I wouldn't be pleased with being disobeyed again."

Drizzt waited and Zak shrugged. "I didn't really think anything – I just ran."

"I see." Drizzt tapped the switch against his other hand resignedly. He had half-hoped Zak would say something like he just wanted to get out of earshot of the house – although that would have been a given anyway, when Drizzt came back to fetch him – but still, had he said that, Drizzt felt he could then justify overlooking this last offense, despite the fact that he _had_ told Zak to wait.

The ranger covered the distance between them and Zak stiffened, but did not run. "Zaknafein." Drizzt's voice was quiet, and once again he waited until his son finally looked at him. "You kicked out Violet's fire." He held up one finger. "You started the fistfight with her." A second finger. "You didn't stop fighting when I said 'enough', and then you disobeyed me by running off when I told you to wait for me." A third and fourth finger were raised. He paused. "I'm going to give you four."

"_Kel'nar_..." Zak's voice trembled slightly.

"I'm doing this because I love you, Zak." As he had done with Violet, Drizzt held Zak with one arm, and with the other he drew the switch back and landed the first hard swat. Zak gritted his teeth, and the second stinging blow came down. Drizzt gave him two more good switches and dropped the thin branch. He'd never given Zak _four_ before, he reflected as he stepped back, and he surely didn't wish to repeat it in the future. In fact he hoped this would be the last time such a punishment was necessary at all. He said as much.

Zak's eyes were moist, but his tough son did not cry. Drizzt rubbed his back anyway. Then he knelt to eye-level and began to repeat what he had told Violet earlier.

Zaknafein had heard this before, on more than one occasion, and not only from dad, but from mum too. The speech always went something like this: "I punished you because I love you...I love you too much to just ignore it when you do something that is bad for you or for others...I want you to grow up to be a good person..." and so on. Now that the worst was over, Zak realized that he was pretty hungry, and he hoped dad would get on with it so that they could go have supper. At last dad said, "_Kampiun_?" and Zak answered yes, he understood.

Drizzt ruffled Zak's hair, dislodging several bits of leaf and twig. "_Danthe dalharuk_," he began, intending to tell Zak that he should be proud to have such a clever younger sister who could – very occasionally – beat her older brother at things. But no more had he said '_danthe dalharuk_', when Zak unexpectedly burst into tears. Confused, Drizzt pulled Zak close into a hug. Was this a delayed reaction, or what?

Zaknafein could hardly believe that _Kel'nar_ had called him '_danthe dalharuk_' after he had just been so bad. It meant 'dear son', and dad usually only said it when he was particularly proud of Zak, or so the boy had thought. That he had said it now, after what Zak had done, was almost too much for the seven-year-old to comprehend. He hadn't cried when dad switched him (and he was proud of himself for managing that), but he cried now. "H-how can you s-still call me that," he stammered into the front of Drizzt's shirt, "after what I did to V-Violet, and, and how I d-disobeyed you?"

Drizzt rubbed his back. "Because you'll always be my _danthe dalharuk_, Zak, always, no matter what you do, and I've already forgiven you."

Zak cried harder. "I'm sorry, _Kel'nar_."

Drizzt hugged him tighter, till his tears subsided.

Zak wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "_Kel'nar_, Violet said she hates me," he said in a small voice.

"I don't think she means it, Zak," Drizzt reassured. "Sometimes we say things when we're angry, and later we wish we'd never said them, because – even if we meant them for one or two seconds – we don't mean them anymore."

Zak thought about it. "But what if she _does_ hate me?"

"No 'what-ifs'," Drizzt said softly. "You just have to go and talk to her, Zak."

"Okay."

They headed back to the house, stopping at the stream where Drizzt gave Zak his handkerchief so he could wash the dried blood from his split lip, along with any evidence that he'd cried. From the direction of the house came the tantalizing aroma of roasting venison, and Drizzt's stomach growled loudly.

Zak laughed and handed back the sodden handkerchief. "I'm _really_ hungry too!"

Drizzt smiled and offered Zaknafein his hand. After a moment's hesitation Zak took it, and together they walked back to the house.

* * *

A/N: In progress. All reviews welcome.


	4. The Couple

Chapter 4: The Couple

Cattie-brie looked up from stirring a pot of custard when Drizzt and Zaknafein entered. Violet was sitting at the edge of the hearth petting Smokey. She didn't look up. Zak glanced at her quickly, and then away, turning to hang his cloak on its peg.

Drizzt and Cattie-brie exchanged a look, and he indicated first Zak and then Violet with the slightest movements of his head.

"Zak and Vi, go and wash your hands please," Cattie-brie instructed briskly. "You'll have to go out to the stream because the water in the pitcher here is, um, kind of dirty," she finished lamely.

Both kids went out wordlessly, and Cattie-brie turned to look at Drizzt, who started washing his hands in the basin, using the "dirty" water from the pitcher. It had a few grains of sand from the stream in the bottom, but that was it. "Didn't know what to say to get them alone together," she explained. "I should've thought of something better."

Drizzt smirked. Cattie-brie had the little flour barrel out again, and he scooped up a handful of flour and sprinkled it into the water, watching it turn cloudy. "It's dirty now."

"Thanks," Cattie-brie said sarcastically, but she was smiling.

"Well, can't let the kids find out that their mum lied," Drizzt said lightly. "Very naughty of you."

"Mm-hmm, and what are you going to do about it?" she asked teasingly.

Drizzt looked up at her with a wicked grin. "Ask me later tonight."

Cattie-brie leaned in close and ever-so-slowly plucked a single leaf out of his hair. "Oh I will."

The kids hadn't come in yet, which Cattie-brie hoped was a good sign. She let her teasing look linger on Drizzt's face a moment longer, then gathered up the pots that were keeping warm on the hearth and carried them over to the already-set table. "Drizzt," she said over her shoulder after a moment, "It looked like Zaknafein had been crying?" She phrased it as a question.

He nodded. A mother's eyes missed little.

"Oh." Cattie-brie went back to the fire and stirred the custard. "He didn't cry last time, so I thought–"

"He didn't cry this time either," Drizzt interjected. He came and sat down beside her on the hearth. "It was later, when we were talking. I called him _'danthe dalharuk_', and he just lost it...he asked me how I could still call him that after how he'd acted..."

"Oh, Drizzt." Cattie-brie felt her own eyes tearing up. That was touching.

"That, and he's worried Violet hates him," Drizzt finished.

Just then the door burst open and Zak and Vi came in talking animatedly. "...and then Smokey was licking milk from her whiskers, and her little tongue looked so pink and cute!" Violet said.

"She licked my hand last night, and it felt all rough and tickley," Zak said as they sat down side-by-side at the table. "It's like her tongue has little fish scales on it!"

"I know, it's _so_ weird!"

Drizzt and Cattie-brie looked at each other and shared a smile. It was good to see that the kids were friends again.

* * *

Much later that night, Drizzt and Cattie-brie lay in bed enjoying a feeling of perfect contentment. "I finally got you alone," Drizzt said, enjoying how the glow of the candlelight touched the faint sheen of perspiration still visible on Cattie-brie's warm skin. "Been trying all day."

"Mm-hmm."

Drizzt blew gently on the back of her neck, watching the goosebumps spring up as if by magic.

"Hey!" Cattie-brie protested. She turned around in his arms so that she was facing him, and snuggled in closer. "You know how much I hate being cold!"

"And yet we live in Icewind Dale." Drizzt laughed softly.

"Crazy us," Cattie-brie replied, snuggling down lower and laying her head on Drizzt's chest. She absentmindedly ran one hand up and down his bare arm, enjoying the contrast of his black skin underneath her white fingers. "So," she asked after a moment, "was it worth the wait?"

Drizzt grinned and kissed the top of her head gently. "More than worth it."

She smiled back. "I thought so too."

Drizzt reached over and put out the candle, drawing the blankets more snugly around them.

"Sweet dreams, love," Cattie-brie murmured, head still against his chest.

He stroked her hair gently. "Sweet dreams, kitten."

And Drizzt fell asleep with his wife in his arms.

* * *

A/N: Now complete. All reviews welcome.


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